


PTO

by templemarker



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-07
Updated: 2013-09-07
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/templemarker/pseuds/templemarker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's actually a day off. Not the "well, technically I can drink now but call me if something goes down," kind of day off, or the "what was that thing about max overtime again?" kind of day off. Actual, mandated, "if you try to enter we will bar the doors," HR-glowering kind of day off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	PTO

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Franzeska](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Franzeska/gifts).



> Set someone in s1/s2, before the angst storm descended upon our little town.

It's actually a day off. Not the "well, technically I can drink now but call me if something goes down," kind of day off, or the "what was that thing about max overtime again?" kind of day off. Actual, mandated, "if you try to enter we will bar the doors," HR-glowering kind of day off. 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even a Troubled telepath, to know that Nathan is probably sulking in his house, cleaning his service weapon and his personal firearm. Audrey has heard a little bit about the sherrif-sherriff junior days, and she's pretty sure that involved firearms maintenance as well. At least he came by it honestly. 

She felt perfectly justified in rolling into his driveway, sprinting up to the door, and banging like there was a five alarm fire. 

A moment's pause, and he threw open the door, bagel in his mouth. He was fresh from a run, sweaty and still wearing his shorts and sneakers. His hair was everywhere. Audrey let herself look, just for a minute, thinking _I've never seen his legs._

"What," Nathan said mildly after pulling the bagel from his mouth. "I thought it was our day off."

"I wasn't sure you believed in days off," Audrey said with a grin. 

"I do," Nathan said, "within reason."

"So Duke and I are going for a boat ride and you should come too," Audrey said. Abrupt and direct was always a good trick with Nathan. 

Nathan said, "No," before she'd even finished. She squinted at him, taking the bagel from his hand and tearing a bite from it, handing it back to him. 

She said through her mouthful, "Do you know how to swim?"

Nathan looked down at his bagel and then up at her. "Of course I know how to swim."

"Have you ever been on a boat?"

Nathan basically rolled his eyes at her, if he was the type of guy who rolled his eyes. 

"Water, boat, me, what's the problem? I know we see each other for what seems like every minute of the day, but I haven't grown tired of your company yet."

"It's not your company I'm tired of," he said, leaning against his doorframe. 

"C'mon," she said. "We could get away from the town, have a few beers. I haven't really seen much, not from the water, anyway. Not when we weren't investigating something." She made her eyes big and pleading, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth. She practically watched Nathan crumble in front of her. 

"Fine," he said finally, and huffed when Audrey raised her arms in victory. "I have to shower and change, though."

"Wear something comfortable," she said. "I like your legs."

He looked at her, something crossing his face, and ran upstairs. 

*

Duke only raised an eyebrow when Audrey boarded with Nathan in tow, saying, "I'm amazed you got him to show."

She smiled at him, patting his shoulder, and went to the waiting deck chair and cooler/footstool. She pulled some iced tea out, settled in her chair, and watched through her sunglasses as Nathan and Duke were generally awkward and rude to each other. 

Finally whatever dumb shit they were saying to each other ran its course. Duke went to start the engine and Nathan came to sit next to her. 

"Good talk?" she asked, and he snorted in response. 

The ship puttered out of the jetty, and Audrey let the sun warm her face, slipping off her sandals and letting her hands hang loose. Nathan had taken her comment to heart, it seemed, and wore a pair of cargo shorts that looked so old he must have worn them in college. Not looking at him, she edged her toes a little closer, and was rewarded with a gasp of breath when she hit the side of his calf. She didn't move and neither did he. 

The ship kept on for about forty-five minutes, Duke occasionally yelling something unintelligible from the wheel. Between the sun and the churn of the waves and the chucking of the motor, it was easy to fall into relaxation. It was a day off, a real one, and they had nowhere else to be. Or at least, somewhere they weren't allowed to be. 

Even Nathan seemed to have relaxed. When the motor stopped and they both opened their eyes, she saw Nathan wipe at his mouth, and silently laughed. She would bet money that was the first real nap Nathan'd had in a long time. 

Duke bustled out, bringing the salsa they'd stuffed in the refrigerator and some tortilla chips. He looked at them both and sighed. "I thought this was supposed to be a fun little trip," he complained. "How is it I'm doing all the work chauffeuring you guys around so you can sleep off some of your perpetual exhaustion?" 

"Because you're a very good friend," Audrey said, teasing; but she meant it, and she could tell Duke knew it by the faint blush that chased his cheeks. "Beer?"

"Beer," Duke confirmed, and he dug out three cans of Baxter's IPA. Nathan took one, looking at it in surprise. "I like this," he said. 

Duke shot a wry look at him and said, "I know. It's all you would order when it was on tap at the Gull." 

"Oh," Nathan said, holding it in his hand a moment too long. Audrey poked him with her toes, and laughed when he almost dropped it at feeling the cold. 

"Don't stare at it, drink it," she admonished, and pulled her foot back so he could recover. 

They drank in an almost comfortable silence, wavelets lapping at the sides of the ship, faint music coming from the radio in the cabin. 

"Do you know," Audrey said, breaking the silence and wiggling her toes, "you're both probably my favorite people in the world. I mean, setting aside all the crazy shit that I am too relaxed to think about, seriously. The two of you--you make it worth it to be here. Thanks for that, for being good to me, when you didn't have to."

Duke licked his lips, and Nathan sat stiffer in his chair. She gave them both a lazy smile. 

"Trust me, boys, it's just a little appreciation. Nothing to get worked up about," she winked. 

"Do you mean it when you do that, that flirting stuff," Nathan asked abruptly. "Or are you just teasing?"

Duke reached over and punched Nathan in the shoulder, and Nathan punched him right back, not bothering to look over. Audrey crossed one pale leg over the other, her can held loosely in her hand. 

"Can't it be both/and?" she asked, a bit more serious, definitely more pointed. 

"Yes," Duke said, "although Nathan has a point. I think you know we're both--we're interested. Each of us. In you. Are you--do you know what you want? Or is this just..."

"A distraction," Nathan finished, looking intently at her. 

She didn't say anything for a long minute, taking a sip from her beer and considering. She didn't think there was much to be lost here--they weren't going to end on a wrong note, it might just be awkward for a while. But there was a lot to be gained. 

"I know what I want," she said. "I just don't know if I can have it." 

She watched them carefully for a moment, but they were quiet--weird for them, but they were watching her back. This is why she wondered, about them, about what they were to each other; all the fighting, all the bickering, seemed to cover up something between them that neither one seemed up to dealing with. She figured that, since she showed up--however she showed up--they'd spent more time together than they had in years. 

Audrey made a decision. She put her beer down, and shook off the sweatshirt she'd been half-wearing. Nathan and Duke sat, anticipatory, and she thought she saw a smirk chase Duke's face. She smiled, thinking of all the things Duke might have gotten up to, tooling around coastlines, and took a step closer. With her eyes on Nathan, unblinking, she bent down to kiss Duke, a first kiss that turned heated in a second, Duke's hands coming up to clutch at her while Nathan's mouth dropped open in shock and arousal. 

Audrey brushed her hand through Duke's hair and pulled back. He looked at her, knowing and a little rueful, and wiped his thumb at his mouth. He sat back in his chair, and turned to watch as Audrey went over to Nathan. 

Nathan looked up at her, and Audrey shuddered with it. She said his name, and he moved forward in his chair, slightly but just enough to tell. She ducked down, and their kiss was a sharp exhalation of breath, desperate and wanting. 

Audrey cupped the side of his face, thumb brushing at his cheekbone, and pulled back. She stepped to her chair, plopped down, and crossed her legs again. Grabbing another beer from the cooler, she popped it, gulped half of it down, and then looked at them both. 

"That's what I want," she said, a challenging note in her voice. "I'm not interested in competition." She grinned. "I'm interested in teamwork."

Duke's smile was poorly hidden behind the fist that was propping his chin. Nathan looked frustrated and turned on, his face a little stormy. 

"You can't have both of us," he said. "I don't--I don't even want Duke here most of the time."

Duke shot him a look. "You're not a possession," he said. "And neither am I. Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me you've forgotten that summer by the lake? Because I never have, and Audrey has been the closest thing to getting us back there that I've ever felt." He glanced at Audrey, momentarily alarmed. "Not that I--I mean--"

She waved it off. "Nathan, what I want, it's not like a time-share. I want you both. I feel like I already have you both, as partners, not choices, and we've just been waiting on an excuse to take it further. I'm not going to pressure you. You asked if I was serious; I'm completely serious. But I'm also not going to do this halfway."

Nathan ducked his head down, thinking, and Duke and Audrey looked at each other past him. Duke shrugged, and Audrey made a little face and a silent sigh.

"I don't want to do this here," Nathan said abruptly. "How--can we go to your place?" he asked, pleading writ on his face, to Audrey. "This is Duke's ship, and I--"

There was a thump, and then a repeated knocking against the side of the hull. All three of them jumped up, and rushed to see what they'd hit.

Audrey broke into a smile. "Oh, hey Bob," she said to the guy floating in the water below. 

Bob made a clicking noise at her and pointed back towards Haven's shoreline. 

"Who the fuck is that," Duke asked, sounding a little freaked out. 

"It's Bob," Nathan said. 

"You know, the half-shark guy we encountered a couple of months ago? Good guy, makes amazing lox," Audrey said, scanning the coast. 

"It's dolphin, thank you very much," came Bob's throaty voice, sounding offended. 

"Sorry," Audrey said, pushing past Duke to grab her phone. 

"You guys need to get back pronto," Bob said, clicking something again and then ducking under the water. 

"Duke, we need to--" Nathan said, but Duke had already moved towards the cabin, shaking his head in disbelief as he went. 

Nathan and Audrey stood next to each other, trying to pick out and see if there was anything visibly Troubled in Haven. Audrey was just about to point out a thin trail of smoke past the church spire when Nathan carefully took her hand. 

She looked down, and then up at him. "I feel like I already have you too," Nathan said quietly. "And I've never managed to get rid of Duke."

Audrey squeezed his hand once more, and then they separated. "My place," she said. "Tonight, after this is settled, whatever it is. We can talk some more about it, I'm sure Duke will bring a bottle up from the bar."

"I don't want to talk," Nathan said, a blush spreading up his face. 

Audrey's smile widened. "We'll talk after," she said, with promise. Then her eyes turned serious, and she pulled her cell phone up so they could both hear. 

"Hey Laverne," Audrey said, tone shifting into work. "I hear we're being called in on our day off."


End file.
